The NZDUSD opens higher at 0.8675 this morning.
Friday night's US non-farm payroll employment numbers exceeded expectations at first glance (288,000 job created versus 210,000 forecast) - the USD rallied strongly in immediate response, dragging the NZDUSD lower by over 50 points.
However, the situation soon reversed after closer examination of the data showed a decline in the number of people looking for work and flat wages growth.
The NZDUSD raced higher to touch a 3-week high of 0.8680.
The Ukrainian situation continues to deteriorate with no end in sight.
NZ employment numbers hit the tapes on Wednesday - this is the only major piece of data on the domestic calendar this week.
Global equity markets were mostly lower on the day - Dow -0.3%, Nikkei -0.2%, Shanghai +0.0%, FTSE +0.2%, DAX -0.4%
Gold prices climbed 1% to USD$1299. Oil prices increased by 0.8%.
The current indicative mid-rates are:
NZDUSD 0.8675
NZDEUR 0.6245
NZDGBP 0.5135
NZDJPY 88.60
NZDAUD 0.9330
NZDCAD 0.9525
There is no data on the domestic calendar today.
Australia Building Approvals & ANZ Job Ads, followed by the some influential Chinese Manufacturing Data early this afternoon.
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Dan Bell is the senior currency strategist at HiFX in Auckland. You can contact him here »
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